Yut: A Classic Korean Game

Who doesn’t love games? At both Fusion Fridays and our recent Free Family Festival, we had the Korean game of yut available to play. Similar to classic American board games like Sorry!, yut uses a six-by-six space square board with shortcuts through the middle and four sticks instead of dice. Using several markers (called mal, or “horse”), players throw the sticks onto the playing table and move around the board. The sticks are curved on one side and flat on the other, creating five different possible landing combinations that tell the player how many spaces to move. For example, if two sticks land round side up and two round side down, the player can advance two spaces. Because the rules are relatively simple and the materials easily made, this game has thrived for centuries in Korea.

Want to try yut for yourself? Come to this Saturday’s Silk Road Storytime where you’ll hear Korean stories, learn to play yut, and make a set of your own! If you can’t make it, just print out the board and rule sheet below (click to enlarge) and grab some pennies and popsicle sticks– it’s as easy as coloring one side of each stick.